Cathy Thacker - The Bride Said, 'I Did?'

As they slid off their stools at the kitchen counter and cleared away the empty food containers, Dani glanced at her watch and saw it was nearly 7 p.m. Bedtime was hours away, but her body felt the fatigue of moving in. Yet the last thing she wanted to do was lie in her bed alone, remembering the shattering sensuality of Beau’s kiss earlier this afternoon, worrying about the foolhardy way she’d kissed him back. No, that wouldn’t do. It wouldn’t do at all.

Dani glanced back at the twenty-some boxes scattered around her kitchen. She hadn’t touched one of them.

“Whoa now.” Beau held up a staying palm before she could spring into action once again. “I think you’ve done enough for one day,” he said sternly, reading her mind.

Actually they both had, Dani thought. “Not that I want to make a habit of agreeing with you, but I think I have had enough for one day.” Dani smiled. Hand against his spine, she propelled him toward the closest exit.

Beau dug in his heels and slowed their progress considerably. As they reached the back door, he wrapped an arm around her waist and looked at her curiously. “We’re not staying here tonight?” The low sexy timbre of his voice sent a new thrill shooting down her spine.

“We’re not staying anywhere together, cowboy,” Dani corrected archly. She splayed a staying hand across his chest. “Not now or any other night.”

Tugging her close, Beau leaned down, kissed her cheek and whispered in her ear, “That’s what you think.”

Dani stared at Beau in a mixture of astonishment and disbelief. “You really can’t think we’re going to spend the night together.”

His smile flashed, wicked and mesmerizing. “As your husband and the father of your baby, where else would I be?”

That again. Scowling, Dani folded her arms in front of her. She wasn’t sure whether she wanted to deck him or kiss him. She just knew she had an overwhelming desire to do something physical where he was concerned. Deciding in the end it would be best just to keep as much distance from him as possible, she looked down her nose at him. “You’re carrying this practical joke too far, Chamberlain.”

She wasn’t all that surprised to find he didn’t think so. “If you really think I’m pulling your leg, or worse, that the lab work Lacey ran at the hospital was inaccurate, then put it to the test yourself,” he dared with a complacent smile. “Go to the pharmacy and pick up a home pregnancy kit. Run the test yourself.”

Dani regarded Beau uneasily. Why would he even suggest this, she wondered, restlessly shifting her weight from one bare foot to the other, unless it was true? Once again, Dani searched for hidden cameras, saw none. Still clinging to the hope this was all a bad dream she’d soon wake up from, Dani regarded Beau calmly. “I can’t do that.”

“Why not?” he volleyed back, in a low rich voice that practically oozed testosterone.

With effort Dani ignored the tremors of sexual awareness gathering deep inside her. This evening was beginning to feel too much like a date, with a kiss or two or three in the making. And it wasn’t. She would do well to remember that.

Dani went over to get his hat, which he’d left on a shelf next to the back door. Marching to his side, she pressed it into his hands. “Laramie is a small town. If I went in and purchased one, the news would be all over town in an instant.”

To her dismay, he merely put his hat aside, grabbed one of her hands, then leaned a shoulder against the door frame and made himself all the more at home. She tried without success to unobtrusively wrest her fingers from the strong warm tantalizing grip of his.

Beau lifted her hand to his lips and kissed the back of it, sending another tingle of awareness arrowing through her. Still holding her eyes with provoking gallantry, he murmured, “Then I’ll buy it for you. Especially if it’ll make you feel better to run a second test—one you’ve supervised yourself.”

Dani swung away from him, not sure why he got under her skin this way, just knowing he did. “If you went into a store to purchase a pregnancy test, you’d definitely attract attention—even in a town like Laramie, which does a pretty good job of respecting your privacy. Then, before you know it, the story would be all over the tabloids.” Miserably Dani closed her eyes. “I can see the headlines now. Desperate for Child, Beau Chamberlain Buys Home Pregnancy Kit.” She opened her eyes and regarded Beau stoically. “No thanks.”

Beau rubbed his chin with his index finger and thumb and sent her a taunting grin. “You know, you seem to have a real talent for that.” He winked. “Maybe you should give up reviewing movies and consider writing for the tabloids.”

Dani rolled her eyes. “You’re killing me, cowboy.”

Beau lifted his hands in an amiable fashion. “I’m glad you have a sense of humor about this,” he drawled, still regarding her appreciatively. “The way things are going, we’re both going to need one.”

Dani glared at him and said nothing.

Beau pushed away from the door and straightened his tall broad-shouldered frame. “You still don’t believe we’re married and you’re pregnant, do you?” he said, closing the distance between them once again.

If she was only going on the possessive protective way he was behaving, she probably would believe it. But she knew better, she reminded herself firmly, backing up until she reached the counter. Things this crazy and romantic did not happen to her. “No reason I should,” she retorted.

The doorbell rang.

Beau seemed irritated by the interruption. He looked at her impatiently. “Expecting anyone?”

“No,” Dani said. “You?”

“No.”

The doorbell rang again, more insistently.

She locked eyes with him deliberately. “I suppose you want me to get it?” she asked drolly.

Beau made his way through the stacked boxes to the living room, where he plopped down on the sofa and stretched his long legs out in front of him, continuing to make himself completely at home. “It is your house.”

Shaking her head, Dani headed past him for the front door. She opened the door, half hoping to see a TV camera crew yelling “Surprise!” Or better yet, Dr. Lacey Buchanon McCabe, there to tell her the hospital lab had made a terrible mistake.

Instead, she found Billy Carter, the young man she’d been trying to gently discourage. His tall gangly frame was pitched forward with a determined eagerness that had Dani instantly on her guard. A liberal amount of styling gel tamed his rusty-brown hair. Round spectacles framed his intelligent brown eyes. Instead of his usual movie-slogan T-shirt and jeans, he was dressed in baggy khaki pants, a deep-purple dress shirt and vividly flowered tie, and clutched a fistful of flowers. The goatee he had grown to make him look older than eighteen was neatly trimmed, and he reeked of a seductive-smelling aftershave.

“I’m so glad you’re home,” Billy said breathlessly.

“You are,” Dani said dryly.

Billy nodded. “Can I speak to you inside?”

“Sure.” Dani let Billy into the front hallway.

“I was hoping we could go out tonight,” Billy continued hurriedly, transferring the flowers from his sweaty palm to hers.

“Out?” Dani repeated, not sure where this was going.

“Just the two of us,” Billy clarified seriously.

Dani decided if this pass was on the level, Beau did not need to hear it. Firmly she put the flowers back in Billy’s damp hands, took his arm and directed him back to the door. Naturally, Billy dug in his heels and refused to budge. “Not here in Laramie, of course,” he continued in a voice loud enough for Beau to hear every word.